The subject matter disclosed herein relates to X-ray imaging systems and more particularly to fluoroscopy imaging systems and methods.
Fluoroscopy imaging systems facilitate the acquisition of X-ray images of a patient's anatomy (or the internal features of any animate or inanimate subject) that may be viewed as a video during an imaging operation. Such fluoroscopy systems are utilized in various applications for viewing of patient anatomy during a variety of diverse medical procedures, such as angiographic procedures, gastrointestinal procedures, cardiology procedures, and so forth. Depending on the clinical application, a radiologist typically selects an operating mode that affects multiple system parameters involved in the setup of the imaging system. For example, the selected mode may affect the X-ray dose to which the patient is exposed, the image quality obtained on the display, and so forth.
Since the various procedures in which such fluoroscopy imaging systems may be employed are diverse, the imaging parameters preset by the system to a fixed value may not be optimal for the imaging operation being performed. Additionally, an imaging parameter value suitable for one portion of an imaging operation may not be suitable for another portion of the same operation. Some traditional systems allow for operator adjustments during the imaging operation by providing a given fixed range and step size for each of the controls disposed on a control panel of the system. However, the preset range and step size, which remain the same for all operators and procedures, still limit the operator's ability to control the imaging parameters during the imaging operation. Accordingly, there exists a need for improved fluoroscopy systems that overcome such drawbacks.